Language and Culture

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Language and Culture

Language, Communication, and

Culture

Introduction to Language, Communication, and Culture

 How is language related to culture?

 How is a language related to a culture?

 Both questions are valid, and we look at the issues through several lenses:

 Kinesics and paralanguage

 Ethnolinguistics and code switching

 Similarities and differences between

human and animal communication

Nonverbal Communication

 There are two basic types of nonverbal

communication

 Kinesics involves the all-too-familiar body

language: facial expression, gestures,

even eye contact

 Paralanguage are the vocalizations that

often accompany speech: slurs, tones of voice, nonmeaningful utterances including

“um” and “uh”

Kinesics: Gestures

postures, facial expressions,

 In other countries, it would mean

—well, you know! (Need a hint? Think middle finger)

 This is one example how the same gesture might mean different things in different cultures

Kinesics: Facial Expressions

 Social smiles are commonplace, though women may do so more than men—a matter of expected social sensitivity

 Frowns express frustration, sometime cynicism, as this cartoon suggests—if you smile, you’re

nạve

 Facial expressions and eye contact are the most widely used forms of kinesics; gestures are also frequent

Gesture Call Systems:

Paralanguage

 Paralanguage consists of extralinguistic noises

accompanying language

 Voice qualities: tone, slur (cartoon), other background noises

 Vocalizations: Identifiable noises turned on and off at short intervals—”uh,” “um,” other kinds of hesitation

More Paralanguage

 Vocal characteristics: Sound production such as laughing

 Vocal qualifiers: Tone or pitch-”Get Out!”

 Segregates: “Shh!” “Oh oh,” “hmmm!” (cartoon) among others

Historical Linguistic Techniques

 When tracing the history of language, linguists have no writing

to rely upon

 Several techniques have been developed to trace the

probable changes

the assumption that 14% of a language changes every 1000 years

based on similarity

 A list of words is compiled for each of two languages that refer

to objects that are common everywhere: body parts, sun, rain, stones, trees, and others

 The closer the vocabulary—cognates or similar words

between two languages, the more closely related the two

languages are thought to be

Models of Language Change

 Wave Model: A model that emphasizes

borrowing across contemporary languages

 Definition: Study of relationship between language and culture

 Named after Edward Sapir (top) and

Benjamin Lee Whorf (bottom), the

 Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis states thatlanguage,

 By providing habitual “grooves” of expression

 Predisposes people to see world in certain ways

 Thus guiding thinking and behavior

Ethnolinguistics: Do Languages

Structure Cultures .

 Example of Sapir-Whorf hypothesis;

 Hopi: Conception of time as processes, not discrete units

 For example, Hopi would not divide time into seconds or hours

 Nor would they perceive time

as object, such as wasting time

Or Do Cultures Structure Language

herders

poetry is composed about them

cattle

militaristic vocabulary; we make a killing on Wall Street, we bomb the exam, we have a war on drugs, cancer, poverty, you name it

question

Ethnolinguistics: Some Areas of

Research

 Kinship terms: The terms father and mother may be

extended to uncles and aunts More on this later

 Gender-based meanings: When women say “I’m sorry,” are they taking responsibility for the problem or are they regretting the situation, as Deborah Tannen argues

 We have several social dialects in this country, ranging from Afro-American speech to “Spanglish” (Spanish-

English word combinations) to regional dialects from the U.S South, y’all, to Bostonian bahgains

Code Switching: Martin Luther King

the occasion

speech according to occasion and audience

in code switching, ranging from standard discourse in formal settings

settings (Here delivering a sermon at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in

Atlanta, Georgia)

Language Origins: Interspecies

Comparison

different communication systems is a first step

Language and computer buttons to convey

messages somewhat like languages

deteriorated, so we have at best indirect

evidence.

Language Origins: Fossil Evidence

 Did Neanderthals have language? A humanlike hyoid bone, which anchors the tongue, was

found in Kebara Cave, Israel

 Endocasts indicating size of cerebrum and

possible Broca’s area have been found among

 Another indication is the flat surface at the skull base, suggesting the larynx was too high to

enable language; nonhuman primates also have

a flat skull base and high larynxes

 Basic conclusion: no one really knows when

language got its start

Features of Language Shared

with Other Species

 Nevertheless, language does share some features with the communication systems

of other animals.

 We look at some examples, such as

gibbons, stickleback courtship, and bee dances indicating the location of a nectar source

Common Features of Language and Nonhuman Communication

 Definition: Absence of intrinsic relation between

communication element (speech sound) and thing or event to which it refers

(referent)

 Iconic Relationship:

Existence of such a relationship between element (e.g gesture) and its referent

 Importance: Utterance is not

“married” to meaning, such as

 [tæk] “tack” has another (small nail)

 [ækt] “act” has a third (dog and pony show)

 Even then, this string is language specific (English), not intrinsic

Arbitrariness (Across

Languages)

languages

Productivity (Definition)

elements of communication system to

be combined to form new meanings which the speaker and listener may never have learned before, yet

understands perfectly

wug

produced an entirely new—and correct utterance

Productivity: Jabberwocky

Riddle

 From Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll (see

Productivity: The Answers

 The nouns: surely the article the is a dead giveaway for toves and wabe

 The verbs: ‘ twas is poetic English for “ it

 The adjectives: Doesn’t the –y ending of

another one

Productivity: Language Learning

 Language drills use the principle of

productivity

 English: I am, you are .

 Spanish: Yo soy, tu eres

 Productivity simply involves taking a few elements (phonemes, morphemes, even syntax) and generate unlimited

combinations of expressions

Productivity Among Other Species:

Bee Dance

a flower or other nectar source, she returns and tell the other bees where it is with a dance

bees the direction and distance of the pollen source

indicates the direction

indicates pollen available there

speed of the dance, the amount brought back, and the waggle.

system to send and receive messages

stickleback fish courtship (see diagram)

distended belly

them with sperm

 Not visible: Termites in sealed mound

 Intangible: math equations, square roots

 Nonexistent: dragons, unicorns

though they cannot see the flower or

 Chimpanzees do learn by imitation and

pass it on: e.g., termite fishing

function

language condition culture: the old chicken-egg question.

communication